Big Leaguers Notebook: June 14

Giants' Jeremy Affeldt helps those less fortunate

 Jeremy Affeldt is not your average Major Leaguer. The Giants pitcher provides relief on and off the field, from championing international anti-human trafficking efforts through Not for Sale to building an orphanage and water well in Gulu, Uganda. "I don't want to be an American that sits there and says, 'I only care about my country. It's all about me in America," said Affeldt. "I try to remove myself from that and say, 'What can we do to help out humanity?' When I was growing up I had water, I had food, I had shelter. I had those things, so I want to help other people have them." (New York Times)

 Red Sox starter Jon Lester donned an advanced motion-capture suit and had every pitching movement digitized for his new "Hardball Ace" mobile video game. Said Lester of his Avatar-like experience, "I spend about three hours in the motion-capture suit then another three or four going over all of the intricacies of the game. They captured everything from my motions to my pitches to my expressions. To be able to go through all of my pitches and my motion then to run to the computer and see the stick figures on the screen and then to see where the game is at now is pretty crazy. To be a part of the making of the game and to see how a game grows from an idea to seeing the technology behind the game to seeing the actually game is really cool." (ESPN.com)

 Missed the latest top plays on the field? Check out Ben Revere's incredible diving catch (MLB.com), Brent Lillibridge's robbery at the wall (MLB.com) and Evan Longoria's inside-the-park home run (MLB.com).

 ESPN's Sport Science broke down Derek Jeter's swing at the plate and explained exactly why Jeter's collection of career hits is such an impressive feat. (ESPN.com)

 Mark Teixeira joined New York City major Michael Bloomberg to formally announce plans for a new $85 million Manhattan building that will house the Harlem RBI program, the new DREAM Charter School and 90 units of affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers (The Wall Street Journal). To join Dream Team 25 and help Teixeira provide critical education, enrichment and health services to Harlem youth, visit http://www.dreamteam25.org.

 The Rays threw a slumber party on their red-eye flight, and David Price took 'best costume' honors with his argyle footie pajamas. (USA Today)

Quote of the Day: "You play like every day could be your last. I mean, you're out there, and I play as hard as I can every day and have as much fun as I can every day. I think that's the way to go about it on the field and off." -- Cubs rookie outfielder Tony Campana on how his survival of childhood cancer has affected the way he plays baseball (FOXSports.com).

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.